Shock absorber



@et 9 1923o 1,47U,30l

n A. G. TAPPEN ET AIL SHOCK ABSORBEH Filed 0012. 3l. 1921 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 TTU/MEX A. G. TAPPEN ET A1..

sHocK ABsoRBER Filed oct. 51. 1921 Lmm 3 Sheets-She@ 2 Oct. 9 1923.

A. G. TAPPEN ET An.

sHoox Asonn Filed oct. `31. 1921 5 Sheet-$heet 3 Patented @ein Q, lQZ.

en'rninei 'rnrrnn Ann Annnv. vntiinnfrtnn, or Mawson, Wisconsin.

strooit nnsonenn.

Application inea eet-ober 31, 1921. serial No. 511,621.

To all whom/it mag/conccwt:

Be it known that we, ARTHUR G. TAPPEN andy AXEL V. l/VALLENTINE, both citizens oi the United States, and residents orv lladison,

in the county of Dane and State otlisconsin have inventedk certain new and useful" improvements Shocltlbsorbers; and we do hereby declare that the 'following `1s a full, clear, and exact descriptionthereof.

Uur-invention refersto shock absorbersv for vehicles, and :it has 'for its primary ob ject to provide a shock absorber having relatively reciprocative whcel'supported trame m embersv carryingy a series voi''supeiirnposed coil springsfditfering'in degrees'of strength,

whereby such spring' units maybe inter-4 changeable and-'variable as to ystrength `to' compensate for-variations in the load can ried by the vehicle.

e, `further object ofthe invention lislto provide, in connection with the super-'imposed series ot springs,` a' recoil spring',

whereby the load shock upon'the vehicleis absorbed and the rebound also'.

Specific objects of our invention'are,

To provide a vehicle frame, having a wheel carrying; leverv or set oi" levers in pivotalV union with thev frame, the lever and frame being' connectedbyrelatively recipro;

cative springconnectingmenibers having as partition therebetween, whereby an upper' and lower -compart-nient' is had, the upper coinpartmenty being provided with a vseries ol independent spring units, varying 1n strength, and the lower compartment with a,

single lunit to'thus absorb shock in both di rections and to vary the load resistance strain bylsubstituting'spring units in the upper compartment of different degrees of load resistance tension.'

Another object ot our vinvention is to pro-V vide wheel carrying` levers in connection withthe frame havingT plunger rods in telescopi@ union' with a housingixedon` the trame, the plunger rodsy carrying spring supports, whereby` the housing' is divided into upper andV lo'wer- 'compartments `for the reception .ofi-independent springfunitsfvaryingzin load strength', it-being@understood^ that a multipleseriesof` units'isprovided for resisting the load strain and one or more or' the nnits for resistingthe recoil.

llliththe'above objects inview, the 1n vention consists in certain peculiarities yci' construction and combination ot parts, as

are hereinafter fully set forthwith reference` f to the accompanyingillustrations and subseqiiently claimed.

.In the drawings,

Figure l represents a rear'portion of the'4 their rear ends byparallelstruts B, the side bars and struts constituting, inieilect, a rigid rear wheel; fork for e 4motor-cycle. 0bviously this forl may be in the forni'of an attachment to a standard type of motorcycle or the device, to bey hereinafter `described, maybe applied directly toa motor; cycle frame especially designed for the purpose of receiving an equipment in :accordance with our invention.I

lt should alsobe understood that while we have, ras an exemplilication offour invention, shown it as an attachment to a` motor-cycle orV bicycle, obviously the invention will be just as applicable to a tourwheel vehicle, either of the motor driven type or otherwise.

rllhe Elower bar of the skeleton iframe `unit has extending, therefrom, an'ear 'l to which car is pivote-d one end of a lever 2,' a pair71k ofsuch levers, inthis exemplitication 02E our invention, beingconnected by a cross bar 3 i at their rear ends, whereby the` structure, as a whole, constitutes a tloating'forlr. The

lcentral portions ofthe connected levers 2 are Vformed 'with 'lonffitii'dinally Vapertured' websv 3, thev apertures'thereoii being provided' .tor f the reception of "an axle 4. which .is suit ably secured within the slots and, in this case, arranged to be adjusted back and forth by a pair of set screws 5 that are in threadedV union with the webs, the same constituting any standard type of belt or chain tightener tor the axle. The axle, as shown, has mounted thereon Y the hub of a drive wheel, as indicated by dotted lines in Figures l and 2 of the drawings.

The rear ends of the floating levers 2-2 carry links 6, which links are pivotally connected at 6 to plunger rods 7. Each plunger rod is in telescopic engagement with a housing 8, the same being brazed or otherwise secured to the rear ends of the frame members A vandrone of the struts B. Each housing is in tubular form having its ends threaded for the reception of centrally apertured caps 9, which caps. serve as guides for its associated plunger rod 7, it being understood that the housings and plunger rods are relatively reciprocative and `that they together constitute means for supporting shock absorber springs.

1#V The plunger member 7, in this particular exemplitication of our invention has secured thereto, a collar constituting a spring support 10, the same being positioned relatively near the bottom cap V9 of the housing. Hence it will be seen that the collar or spring support constitutes Y a partition, whereby the relatively reciprocative spring carrying members are divided into upper and lower compartments.

The lower compartment .has mounted therein, a. shoelr'receiving coil spring unit 11, the same being interposed between the collar 10 and cap 9.

The upper compartment has nested therein, a series of coil spring units a, o and d, the same being of progressively greater strength, as shown in Figure 3. These superimposed coil spring units are positioned about the plunger rod member 7, and the lowermost one a, rests-upon the collar 10. Each of the spring units is separated from its companion unit bya washer 12.

F rom the foregoing description it will be observed that the tension of recoil spring 1l can be varied a predetermined degree by adjusting the lower cap 9 with relation to the housing 8 and the upper, or load, resisting series of spring units can be tensioned by adjustment of the upper cap 9'with relation to said housing. Obviously load upon the frame'A will be resisted more or less by the series of springs, a to l respectively, and

the road shock'or recoil will be the spring unit 11. i'

Owing tothe fact that the series of load resisting springs can be removed and others of different strength substituted therefor, the shock absorber, as a whole, can be varied to a delicate degree in proportion to the absorbed by load, whereby the vehicle will run smoothly and thus eliminate the extreme vibration and its consequent damage to riders under ordinary road conditions, this vibration and shock being' especially noticeable in road use ot' vehicles. Attempts have been made to absorb vibration and shoclrin motor-cycles or other vehicles. Springs ot various kinds have been utilized but in such structures no provision was made for predeterminedly varying the strength of a series of springs in proportion to the load. For example, in instances where a load usually carried is light, a set of comparatively light spring units are dropped into the housing and under reverse conditions comparatively heavy springs are substituted for those of lighter or more delicate tension.

lt is also our intentionV toY provide the recoil spring units in various strengths, whereby they can be interchanged under certain conditions. v

It will be noted that, 'in addition to the tact that the shock absorber device willnot only relieve strain upon the rider, which strain has proved injurious to health, but it will also relieve strain upon the various parts of the machine or vehicle to which it is applied, whereby the life of vthe vehicle will be materially extended, due to the fact that vibration is reduced upon the metal parts and crystallization orbrealzage of' them is thus avoided.

While we have shown one simple exemplilication of our invention minutely as to detail, it is understood that we may vary the structural features of it within the scope of the claims as they willbe hereinafter interpreted by those skilled in the art.

We claim:

1. The combination with a wheel supported vehicle having a frame, of a floating lever pivoted directly thereto, a wheel carried by the lever, a housing carried by the trame, a plunger rod reciprocatively mounted in the housing, a link pivoted to 4said lever and said rod, a collar secured to the plunger rod, a. recoil spring interposed between one face of the collar and one lend of the housing, and a series of coil springs interposedbetween the other face of the collar and opposite end of said housing, the series of coil springs being interchangeable with another series whereby variation in their a pair of housings carried by said frame, a. plunger rod reoiprocatively mounted in each of said housings, a collar secured to eacli of said plunger rods, a recoil spring interposed between one face o't' the collar and one end of the housing7 u series of coil springs interposed between tlie other end of the collar 21nd the opposite end of said housing, and a pair of links7 each o'l' said links being` pivoted to the lower end of one of said plunger l0 rods, and to one of' said levers.

In testimony that We Claim the foregoing We have hereunto set our hands at Madison, in the county of Dane and State of Wiscon- Sll.

ARTHUR G. TAPPEN. AXEL. V. VALLENTINE. 

